The Dalai Lama studied something written before speaking to the crowd.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama visited the Twin Cites, and spoke about "Peace Through Inner Peace" at Mariucci Arena at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon, May 8, 2011. At the end of his speech he exited the stage wearing a U of M visor cap presented to him by University President Robert Bruininks. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

After a standing ovation from a near-sellout crowd at Mariucci Arena died down, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama urged the thousands in attendance Sunday afternoon to incorporate more compassion into their lives, for the benefit of themselves and others.

Beaming in scarlet and saffron robes, the 75-year-old spiritual leader of Tibet stressed over the course of a 75-minute speech on the University of Minnesota campus that “mentally, emotionally and physically, we are the same” and will do better, both personally and as a culture, if we treat each other with more tenderness and humanity.

“Compassion is the key factor for good health. … It is not money or materialistic concerns, it is compassion and also education,” he said. “If you do bad things for people, you get negative consequences. But if you do good things for people, you get good consequences.”

“Use this for your own well-being,” he urged.

In recognition of Mother’s Day, the Dalai Lama lauded mothers for providing the affection and warmth people need to develop a compassionate society.

“My mother (was) so kind to me when I was young — I was the youngest of the children — that she really spoiled me,” he said with a laugh. With the influence of his mother, he felt “deep inside, I am much calmer.”

The Dalai Lama went on to say that mothers are a wellspring of the kindness cultures need to fully grow.

“Any physical action, verbal action, mental action that brings fear, uncomfortableness — these are evil. Any physical action, verbal action, mental action that brings happiness — these are moral actions,” he said. “The point is, we all have potential because we all come from mothers. … That’s a tremendous source of affection.”

The Dalai Lama also urged more secular development of compassion and generosity. He was quick to point out that secular “does not mean distant from religion,” but rather referred to the whole of society and culture, rather than just faith institutions.

He went on to say that it is up to each individual to develop his potential to be a better person and, in a nod to the University of Minnesota, which co-hosted his visit, praised schools for their role in assisting personal growth.

“The human brain has great potential. It is really a tremendous help to grow this potential,” he said. “So the educational institution, it should train this potential.”

This is the Dalai Lama’s second visit to the university in about a decade. His last official visit was in 2001. On Sunday, he received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from university President Bob Bruininks, who said the school was “deeply honored and grateful that you have returned to our campus.”

After receiving the degree, the Dalai Lama was given a maroon eyeshade, similar to one he often wears, emblazoned with the university’s golden “M.” He seemed pleased with the gift, quipping that sometimes his head gets too hot and — after gesturing to his bald pate — wagging the eyeshade at the audience: “So this is very good,” he said.

The Dalai Lama’s visit was especially meaningful to the Twin Cities’ Tibetan community. With an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 Tibetans, Minnesota has the second-largest concentration of Tibetans after the greater New York City area.

In a question-and-answer session following his address, the Dalai Lama said he felt the world was getting better rather than worse, extolled the Internet for making more information available to more people and drew thunderous applause for telling the crowd that internal beauty was more important than external beauty.

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